


Freed from Fate

by Yunes



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale, Naruto
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Brothers, Crossover, Demons, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Yôkai, minor politics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-01
Updated: 2019-02-01
Packaged: 2019-10-20 12:47:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17622650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yunes/pseuds/Yunes
Summary: Fate saw the lonely paths of two strings and Her heart bled.Both craving companionship, destined to save their worlds, yet utterly alone. She took pity on their souls, entwined them... and set them free.The consequences be damned.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome:)
> 
> This work is also on FanFiction.Net so if you’re as impatient as I usually am, you can read more over there. The chapters I upload here, though, will be revised:).
> 
> Again, I remind you that English is not my first language, cut me some slack, and please review!
> 
> Enjoy!

 

Sesshōmaru, heir apparent to the lordship of the west, was nearing the climax of his second century and couldn't be any happier. Sure, he wasn't the most popular young yōkai on earth, but what did that really matter when his father promised to take him on his first hunt outside the Palace of the West? He was positively giddy with anticipation. Only his nobel upbringing prevented him from running around his room to shake off his excess of energy. He wanted to make his father proud. That had only ever been his aim in life.

Thus, when the doors to his rooms opened and revealed Hatsuo, his minder, his face fell. Anticipating this reaction the lesser inu yōkai preemptively held up his hands. “It isn't what you think, little Lord.”

Face cleared of emotions the young daiyōkai raised one perfectly formed brow. “Then this Sesshōmaru's father isn't too preoccupied to spend time with his only child, again?”, he asked flatly.

“Well… yes. But he has a very good reason”, Hatsuo hurriedly replied. Sesshōmaru, used to the frequent excuses of his progenitor, stayed silent. He didn't even ask, yet his minder explained further: “The Inu no Taishō has to attend a meeting with the dragon ambassador. He just showed up half an hour ago. But don't worry. We won't have to delay your first hunt. After all it is a very important rite of passage. I will simply accompany you in your fathers stead.”

The young heir simply nodded, straightened his posture and calmly walked past the other yōkai, an empty feeling in his stomach. He didn't even know why he still cared, why it still hurt. His father hadn't really spent time with him in over a hundred years. In fact, he couldn't even remember the last time the two of them had spoken privately, outside of the courtiers earshot. One would think he was used to it by now. He simply wasn't worth the time of the Great Dog General. His jaw clenched.

On his way to the palace gates he could hear the lesser yōkai talking. They were always talking. And incessantly about him. He could clearly hear their whispers. Once upon a time he had thought them plainly disrespectful, but he had slowly learned that they simply didn't believed his hearing to be that good. He was exceptional when they thought him an unfeeling, unaware statue. Apparently, according to the court gossip, he was unapproachable, unnaturally apathetic and downright fearsome. He put them on edge. Whenever he met someone's gaze with his blazing eyes they hurriedly averted their own and unconsciously backed away from him. Once it had hurt him. He hadn't understood. Now he was used to it. He still didn't understand but he no longer cared.

He would show them all what he was capable of. He had three days until his one-hundred-and-fiftieth birthday. On that day he was supposed to pay tribute to his lord by offering him his hunting trophy. He would make everyone see that he was a strong daiyōkai worthy of their praise and a place amongst them.

Serenely wandering the surrounding woods, he ignored the presence of his minder, who was only there to watch and witness, not to interfere under any circumstances. Never once was he heard. The heir to the West never had any problems to stay silent and prey was easily found. He deftly cached a pair of rabbits wit his poisonous claws but wasn't remotely satisfied. For his rite of passage he needed something more impressive, something awe inspiring. He had three whole days to accomplish it after all. More than enough time to hunt something really worth his rite.

Seeing that it couldn't be any other way, on the third day he was on his way back to the palace carrying the carcass of a most impressive black bear, his chest swelling with pride. As elated as he was to bring home such a beautiful yet relatively dangerous trophy, he didn't smell his attacker until a sword imbedded itself into his back.

Crying as the full amount of pain accompanying such a grievous wound hit him, he instinctively turned around and stroke out with poisonous claws. Sheer dumb luck and his attackers surprise were his saving grace. He couldn't have aimed any better if he forced his vision to clear. The pain was to all encompassing like nothing he had ever felt before.

“Sesshōmaru-sama!”

The annoying voice of his minder ripped him back into reality. In an epic show of will he gritted his teeth and focused. The assailant lay dead to his feet. A panther yōkai, he absently noticed. He had killed him with a poisonous strike directly at the jugular. His attacker never had a chance. And it was pure dumb luck and instinct that had saved him. He looked into dead flat eyes. He had killed someone. He heaved up every last bit of meat he had eaten this hunt.

Finally he noticed the steadying hand on his shoulder and reared back. Indoctrinated pride made him straighten himself to reclaim a semblance of dignity. He used all his reclaimed resolve to coldly command: “Stay away. You are only to watch this Sesshōmaru's first hunt rite, not interfere.”

“But Young Lord, this was-”

Sesshōmaru cut him off aggressively with a deep growl that intensified the pain in his lover back. Aware that pulling the sword out would only make him bleed out, he apathetically repositioned the bear and added the assailants remains to his burden. Suppressing a grunt, he slowly but surely made his was back to the palace.

He must have looked even more frightening than before, because everyone skittered hastily out of his was as soon as he reached his home. Hatsuo warily and worriedly followed him silently like a shadow as they made their way to the great audience hall, in which all relevant lords and ladies had already gathered to witness their lord's heir's first rite of passage. Solemn silence engulfed the hall as Sesshōmaru let the two corpses slid onto the marbled floor. He raised his gaze and regarded heavily breathing the empty throne, a droplet of sweat running along his temple.

After a few moments of silence Futoshi, his fathers second in command, stepped up next to the throne and declared in a low baritone voice: “His lordship is unable to attend.”

Sesshōmaru snarled, half in pain, half in frustrated anger. Then he collected himself. It didn't matter. This wasn't for his father. This was his rite of passage and damn anyone who would presume otherwise! Thus he barked loudly to the collected nobility to catch their attention and spread his arms wide. “This Sesshōmaru, Heir to the West, presents himself! This pack is proud! This pack is strong! Today this Sesshōmaru adds to this strength! Today this pack gains a new hunter!”

All around him his people overcame their shock and barked in agreement and celebration. Not long after he was the eye of a roaring storm of yōkai. It felt good to be finally acknowledged for something he did, not who he was or who people assumed he was. This was his moment. And yet the empty throne seemed to mock him. His jaw clenched.

He briefly closed his eyes, took a deep breath and calmly strode outside, no longer wanting to stay in that empty feeling place. As soon as he reached the hallway Hatsuo pulled him into a side chamber in which one of the rare palace healer stood in the ready. Not even twitching as the sword was pulled out, he calmly concentrated to keep his breathing steady. Before long he could feel the warmth of healing yoki sooth his back.

“I couldn't completely heal the wound, Mylord. I advise you to keep the bandages on for at least three days to be sure it heals nicely.” The young heir never showed any sign he had listened and simply left as soon as the healer took his hands off him. He was tired. But he couldn't - no he wouldn't - sleep until he knew, what was so important as to keep his father away from his own son's first rite of passage, one of the three most important days of a yōkai.

Always having been particularly light on his feet, Sesshōmaru neared his fathers chambers unnoticed despite his sluggishness. Oddly enough, there weren't any kind of guards posted on his doors. He frowned and approached more cautiously. When he heard an undeniably female and unfamiliar voice, he halted and skittered into a niche that he usually used to catch a glimpse of his father when he, as usual, overlooked spending time with his son in favor of attending 'important matters'.

“You know, it hasn't even been a day since I last saw you, my dear.” The unknown woman was fair skinned and had an abundance of wavy, black hair. She was wearing a costly, blue kimono with intricate bird patterns, clearly of the best quality imaginable, and pompous, sparkling jewelry made of gold and sapphires. Two other facts registered in his mind simultaneously. For one, the female was obviously human. Secondly, she laid in his fathers arms, their clothes in disarray.

The Great Dog General smiled the most radiant smile Sesshōmaru had ever seen on his fathers face und kissed the woman lasciviously, while further opening her kimono and unveiling big and heavy breasts, the nipples evidently aroused. One look at them had the Inu no Taishō sucking them as if his life depended on it. The woman in his arms moaned with pleasure and arched her back to give him better access as he let his hands wander down and up her tights.

The young heir stared transfixed, in blatant shock, and couldn't move.

“Wait”, the woman nearly cried out as she was apparently trying to keep her wits together. “I have to tell you something.” His father visibly restraint himself with great effort and looked down into big, round eyes of hazelnut. “I-” Her voice faltered, her eyes hesitant. Tōga affectionately kissed her temple and waited patiently. That seemed to give her the courage to continue: “I'm pregnant.”

The Inu no Taishō blinked once, then twice. He sniffed carefully. Then a big smile stretched over his face, reaching from one ear to the other effortlessly. He laughed, picked her up and twirled her around, making her squeak. “That is wonderful!”, he exclaimed joyously, “A child! Our child! We will love and spoil him rotten!”

She snorted and swatted his arm. “And what makes you thing it will be a boy?”

He simply grinned. “Dog intuition.”

She rolled her eyes, but couldn't even reply as the father of her unborn child started devouring her lips, his claws carelessly ripping apart the last bit of the clinging, blue kimono and shedding his own.

Sesshōmaru watched strangely detached as his father, stark naked, begun to fuck another woman than his mother, fucked the woman who apparently carried his bastard half brother. He didn't actively register the gasps and moans of their fornication. The sounds simply etched themselves into his mind, the image of his father fucking the woman he loved more than he ever cared for his wife, let alone his son, burning itself into his memory.

As they laid spent and in completion entangled with each other and reasserting their love for each other the young daiyōkai calmly turned around and left the royal wing unnoticed. No one questioned him leaving the palace after his first successful hunt. They, for the first time ever, payed genuine deference for him. He had the freedom and respect he had always wanted. Yet they seemed insufficient to fill the hollow feeling in his chest.

He reached the clearing of his first 'hunt', his first kill. It still was covered in the stench of blood and vomit. Yet he felt nothing as he regarded the brown colored grass. Emotional exhaustion freed him of any feeling he could have felt.

He simply had nothing more to give. Ever.

A blinding white light suddenly appeared in the center of the massacre and forced him to shield his sensitive eyes.

 

—oOo—

 

Naruto Uzumaki couldn't be any happier. He had successfully returned from his first mission outside the village. That it was subsequently declared an A-ranked mission made his personal victory even sweeter. Not to mention the bridge named in his honor. Acknowledgement. His whole body shook from a sense of triumph. It was an emotion he had only ever felt after receiving his forehead protector and thus graduation from the academy. It was elation.

Full of excessive energy he jumped up from his bed and raced outside. He felt so happy he could burst. He simply had to share this with everyone in the village. He stopped by various shops and greeted the owners cheerfully, never really noticing them not responding likewise. Happily crackling he made his rounds all through Konohas streets, never registering any kind of negative stares.

Finally stopping to take a breath, he leaned on a wall to greedily inhale air. He savored the moment as best he could, his grin never leaving his face for even a second. Then he heard a familiar voice. But before he could loudly announce himself, he heard what they were talking about and it peaked his interest.

“I know, apparently the whole village knew, bar our generation and younger. I still can't believe they wouldn't tell us before.”

Answering Sakura’s lovely voice was Ino’s harder one. She sniffed derisively. “But really, I am hardly surprised. That dead last good for nothing freak always seemed off. At least now we know why. He is a monster.”

Naruto froze as Sakura made a snarking sound. “I know. He always rubbed me the wrong way. I still can't believe they would let him stay in our team. My dear Sasuke and I protested loudly. We want that monster with us even less than the day they grouped us. But the Hokage said, we couldn't change teams once formed. I seriously don't know how I will even stand his presence next training session.”

For the first time ever he heard Ino make a sympathetic noice towards her best friend and/or rival. “I genuinely feel for you two and Kakashi-sensei. It really must be hard not to let on, that you guys know he is the demon, that destroyed Konoha and took so many lives. Did you know the most shocking thing about that?” Her friend must have shaken her head in denial, because Ino explained in a slightly raised voice: “I overheard Asuma-sensei talking about that day when the story about the awakening of the demon made its rounds. Apparently he not only ran rampage through the whole village, he also killed his own parents that day.”

Sakura and Naruto simultaneously took in a sharp breath. Then the former shrieked quietly and whispered vehemently: “What?! But that is horrible! What kind of monster kills his own parents on the day it is born?! Imagine living with that guilt! I guess I couldn't. I'd rather take my life than life with that knowledge. But then, does a demon even feel like you and I do? I mean-”

The shinobi in training never learnt what the love of his life meant. They moved out of earshot. He was too shocked to even contemplate moving. Frozen was what he was, completely and utterly frozen, simply leaning against the wall completely frozen, unwilling to process what he had heard. Even beginning to contemplate it shoved a stake through his heart. It became difficult to breath, to think, to live.

Suddenly he recalled that day by the bridge, his namesake bridge. How utterly empty that sentiment suddenly felt. It couldn't even begin to quell the all encompassing feeling of rage and power he lived through briefly. He had never felt anything like it before. Subconsciously afraid, he had shoved those thoughts aside and had focused entirely on the success of the mission, completely ignoring the memory of rampaging energy just underneath his fingertips.

It had felt so good.

It made him sick.

This was the power that protected him and took so many lives. The power that soothed him like a blanket and made his life in the village living hell. The power that had kissed him like a lover he had never known and killed his parents in cold blood. It had felt so good und so utterly wrong. He longed for it with every fiber of his being, with his very soul. He vomited.

After emptying his stomach in a not abandoned street without anyone caring except to look at him in disgust, he could finally sympathize with the villagers and their hatred. He truly was a monster, a demon. Not worth even a shred of the love and recognition he had longed for his whole life. Nauseated he swayed and fell to his knees landing in his own vomit. He didn't care.

All his life he had been told, he was a monster. He ultimately had no choice but to believe it. He was a demon, an abomination that had killed not only a good part of the very village he wanted to protect but his own parents.

_“Imagine living with that guilt! I guess I couldn't. I'd rather take my life than live with that knowledge.”_

Suddenly a peerless calmness engulfed him. He knew exactly what to do. Without hesitation a kunai found its way into his hand. He regarded it soberly. He know dozens of ways to accomplish this one simple task, but he supposed, he should follow a reliable, dead certain path. His mind emptied and his hand serenely found the way to his own neck, never once shaking.

Suddenly a blinding light engulfed him and forced his eyes shut. Then he knew no more.

 

—oOo—

 

Fate smiled sadly.

She had personally woven those two particular strings into the pattern of life and death. The moment She had finished weaving them, She had regretted it. It wasn't often, that Fate took pity on a soul. Ultimately Her patterns always found a sound completion. This was also the case here. Yet She couldn't deny that those exact two paths were painfuller than any soul should have to endure.

Thus She changed the pattern. She chose those two pitiable souls and entwined their strings.

That was as dangerous as it was beautiful, for She could never see the end of predestined paths that She had changed. Henceforth the lives and deaths of those two souls She no longer held.

She had set them free.


	2. Chapter 2

As the light subsided, Sesshōmaru carefully peaked at the clearing from behind his raised arms. He beheld the most horrendous but the most fascinating sight he had seen in a very long time. There in blood and vomit laid a young yōkai about his age wearing the most hideous garments the young heir had ever seen. They were screamingly orange. Idly he asked himself whether the stranger thought it a good diversion strategy in combat. It at least had given him pause. So maybe there was some merit to that thought.

But that wasn't what kept his sight transfixed in fascination. No, the boy was indubitably a young daiyōkai. A kitsune daiyōkai if the faint smell was anything to go by. He had rarely seen another daiyōkai than an Inu, because he had previously been too young to be allowed to attend any official meetings with other clans. Diligently studying the stranger he caught sight of the same protruding fangs and claws which he himself had and three slender, bright orange whisker marks on each cheek. The latter startled him a bit. He had yet to come across a demon that bore even remotely similar markings to himself and his father. Equally intriguing was the unkept mop of golden yellow hair. It was unlike any hair color he had seen until now. He didn't recall reading about any kitsune clan with these kind of yōkai marks. And he had read a lot.

A quiet, pitiful moan escaped the stranger's lips and his eye lids fluttered. After a moment startlingly blue eyes met molten gold. Both pairs having the same narrow pupils of a predator. Then the stranger cursed crudely and reached for his fallen weapon. Anticipating and bracing for an attack he reacted instinctively by disarming his opponent. Only to realize that the other boy had not aimed at Sesshōmaru, but himself.

The young heir was aghast. What in the name of the four Lords was the stranger thinking? Obviously not much because following his act of insanity he started crying hard. Never having had to deal with someone about the same age as himself the Inu daiyōkai wondered, if that reaction was normal. But using himself as a criterion for young daiyōkai behavior he supposed that it was not. Still, he was out of his depth.

Cautiously he crouched down in front of the stranger and sniffed to perceive any other smell than blood and vomit. He recognized disgust and desperation, hurt and a deep feeling of longing. For what, he could not discern, but what he perceived so far had convinced him that the other yōkai did not seek him harm. He was merely emotionally distraught.

Determining a course of action, because that was what Sesshōmaru did best, he declared: “This Sesshōmaru shall keep you.” The stranger hiccuped, blinked confusedly and then sought his gaze slowly and uncomprehendingly. “You are obviously lost. So this Sesshōmaru is keeping you.”

A couple of blinks later the stranger still didn't believe his ears and looked around. Really looked. And for the first time he seemed to realize that he was in a completely foreign place. His gaze dropped to the floor, his head hanging and his moving hair revealing the same pointed ears that the heir to the West had. “You wouldn't want me”, he whispered sadly, “no one wants me. I- I am a-a d-d-demon.” He shut his eyes and another tear ran over his cheek. “I-I deserve to die”, he explained nearly inaudibly.

The Inu yōkai looked at him incredulously. The fair haired stranger seemed to have that effect on him repeatedly. Not an easy feat at all. Which made him all the more determined to keep this source of entertainment. “This Sesshōmaru is a demon, a daiyōkai, just like you. This Sesshōmaru does not think, we deserve to die.”

The stranger's head shot up. Blue eyes met the golden ones in shock. Seeing that he wouldn't be forming coherent sentences anytime soon Sesshōmaru explained: “This Sesshōmaru makes you part of his pack. Come, you are hardly presentable.”

Just as he turned to leave he caught sight of the kitsune's face. A most brilliant smile had positively usurped it. He let go of a light, happy chuckle, scratched his neck in obvious embarrassment and exclaimed full of renewed energy: “Alright, dattebayo!”

 

—oOo—

 

Naruto felt like he was dreaming. He had woken up to a massive headache and the fact that he was still alive. Everything felt a little strange and overwhelming. But he ignored it in favor of finally righting the world of his mistaken existence. When the kunai was ripped from his hand he couldn't release the building pressure in his chest by any other way. He started to cry without realizing. Too caught up in the feeling of failure and self-disgust taking up another weapon didn't even cross his mind.

The strangers words only sluggishly entered his consciousness. He needed a couple of rapid heart beats to understand their meaning. At first he was too preoccupied by the fact that a villager was talking kindly to him. Then he blinked slowly and took in his surroundings. This wasn't Konoha anymore. In fact, he had never seen this place before, let alone that silver haired stranger. With a feeling of dread he hung his head. If the stranger knew the truth, he wouldn't be so kind. Yet Naruto felt obliged to inform him, lest he came to harm like so many before. He was dangerous and the incident by the bridge had made it obvious he had no control over himself.

“This Sesshōmaru is a demon, a daiyōkai, just like you. This Sesshōmaru does not think, we deserve to die.”

Shock. Complete and utter shock was the only thing he could feel at that moment. There was someone else like him? And he thought him deserving to live despite their nature? But then, surely the stranger hadn't killed a huge amount of villagers including his own parents. Or didn't demons care? Maybe he was an anomaly.

Still… the demon had invited him into his pack… Naruto knew what that meant. He had heard the Inuzuka clan talk like that. It meant… it meant family. Plain and simple. For a moment he was on the edge of tears again, but then he felt a huge smile widening in his face. Never ever had anyone wanted him as family. Not even when they didn't know what he was. But this strange boy knew and he still wanted him. Suddenly he didn't care anymore that he was a demon and felt embarrassed about his earlier outburst. If being a demon meant that he was going to have a family, then maybe it wasn't so bad after all. He ignored the silent whisper in his head, that tried to remind him of all the deaths he had caused, and exclaimed in his usual cheerful manner: “Alright, dattebayo!”

He followed the other boy - was his name Sesshōmaru? - with a slight spring in his step. He felt a little overwhelmed. And not only emotionally. Now that he wasn't retreating into himself anymore, he noticed just how different this place was. Everything smelled so much more, everything was brighter. His skin prickled with each tiniest amount of wind. The whole world seemed somehow more… intense.

His thoughts stopped abruptly when his gaze caught the hugest and most impressing building he had ever seen. It was a magnificent and beautiful palace, fortified with massive stone walls and heavily guarded. Suddenly he was nervous. This was obviously the other boy's home. And he was obviously loaded. The guards didn't even questioned him for bringing in a stranger. So he really must be well known. He felt a little inadequate with his dirty, ratty, old jumpsuit. But then, it was the only piece of clothing he could afford first with his meager orphan charity and then with the lousy pay of D-ranked missions. Eating as much ramen as he did, didn't help either. He had hoped to buy new ones with the increased income of doing higher ranked missions, but…

He shook his head and focused on his surroundings yet again. He saw people eying him interestedly, but not disgustedly. That was a first for him. And it felt good. And why wouldn't they? All of them seemed a little strange, stranger than usual that is. Sesshōmaru had said it was a pack. That probably meant other demons. Maybe all of them were demons. He was no longer alone. A grin sneaked onto his lips.

But the people in the palace stared even more at the silver haired boy and bowed deeply in respect when he passed them. Sesshōmaru didn't even seem to noticed. He confidently strode towards his chambers. A minder, who had obviously been waiting for him despairingly, jumped up as he noticed him. “Sesshōmaru-sama! I am so glad that you are alright. When I-”

“This Sesshōmaru needs a bath to be drawn and appropriate garment to be prepared”, he declared curtly, cutting off his minder's words and making the pair of servants waiting in his rooms scurry away to oblige his orders after bowing deeply.

The minder blinked at the sight of Naruto and his hand subconsciously rested on his sword hilt. “Young lord, who ist this?”, he asked cautiously.

Sesshōmaru looked back over his shoulder. “He is mine”, he declared simply as if it was obvious. Then a considering countenance crossed his face as he locked his gaze with Naruto's. “This Sesshōmaru is Sesshōmaru, Heir to the West. What does this Sesshōmaru call you?”

“My name is Naruto U-” He started confidently as usual and then faltered. Did he really have a right to take his parents name? He slightly shook his head. No he did not. Not when it was he, who killed them. He effortlessly forced another smile to his lips. That he could do without fault. He had a lot of practice smiling when not feeling like it. “Just Naruto, dattebayo!”

Sesshōmaru, who was only about half a hand taller than him, nodded his head gravely, as if that was the most serious discussion he had ever had in his life. But Naruto didn't mind. The other boy seemed kind enough and accepted him for what he was. He at least could do the same for him, despite his strange manner of speaking and lordy attitude. But then again, there were stranger people he knew back in the village.

He suppressed memories of his old home and followed the other boy into a marbled bathroom with a gigantic pool in the middle, unwittingly ignoring the minder, who sputtered behind them. Sesshōmaru carelessly shrugged off his sumptuous and bloodied kimono and beckoned Naruto to join him in the hot water, when the latter caught sight of his bandages. “What happened?”

The young heir carelessly lifted a shoulder. “It is of no consequence.”

Naruto gaped. “But you are hurt! That is pretty important to me.” After all Sesshōmaru had said, they were to become family, and family cared for one another, right? He wasn't perfectly sure. But he assumed, family was automatically precious people. And at least he had learnt, that one had to protect their precious people. Even though it seemed he only had the other demon boy left and the rest of them couldn't even stand his presence anymore.

Taken aback by the vehemence of that exclamation Sesshōmaru blinked two times then added: “An assassin tried to kill this Sesshōmaru. Now they are dead.” Then he averted his gaze again and it looked like he studies something far away. “Come in. Your reek offends this Sesshōmaru's nose.”

Torn between sorrow - for he could see clearly that the kill weighted on his soul after having experienced that feeling recently, if differently - and indignation over the insult though it was true, he chose to approach the pool silently for once. When he shrugged off his baggy overall, he noticed faintly he had a fluffy, red tail attached to his backside. He blinked, and took another look. Then he screamed high pitched like a little girl, even though he would later deny that with all his might.

Sesshōmaru, his minder and his two servants watched in disbelief as Naruto was running around stark naked in a circle, trying to get a good look on his tail. The shinobi in training couldn't believe his eyes. Since when had that been there? Was that the kyuubis fault? Suddenly he paused and looked at his stomach. He knew, one could not normally see the seal. But a feeling in his gut told him, that it wasn't there anymore. As well as the kyuubi. He couldn't explain, how he knew it. It was like, there had been a humming in the back of his mind his whole life that he never even noticed. Not until it was gone. And suddenly everything was silent.

He looked at his hands and noticed, they rather resembled the claws he had had when overcome by the kyuubis power. Along his shoulders, elbows, waist and knees double orange stripes marked his body. His feet, too, seemed to be morphed into something looking like a crossbreed between normal feet and a predator’s elongated paws. He cautiously lifted his clawed fingers to his face and felt his smooth, slightly broader than usual whisker marks. If he could, he'd bet they were orange as well. At least it was a color he liked.

“Naruto?” His ear twitched slightly and he subconsciously moved his hands to his still human but pointy tipped feeling ears. He bit his lip. A canine drew blood. He would not panic. He would not panic. He would n- “Naruto, are you well?”

He screamed anew. “I have pointy ears! And claws! And strange marks! And a bloody tail! How the hell do you think I feel?!”

Sesshōmaru, completely unimpressed by his outburst, calmly inquired: “You do realize, you are daiyōkai, do you not? This Sesshōmaru does not understand how you could have missed your birthmarks for a century and a half. Are you suffering from memory loss?”

The blond haired boy giggled at him incredulously. “What the hell do ya mean 'a century and a half'?! I am just over twelve years old! I didn't even know, I was a demon until a couple of months ago. And how the bloody hell do ya call this things birthmarks?!”

Sesshōmaru's ears twitched on account of the other boy's volume. By the Lords, he had one strong pair of lungs. “Calm down. You are murdering this Sesshōmaru's ears. Hatsuo take your hand off your blade. This Sesshōmaru is in no danger. Now, _sit_ _down_.” Numbly Naruto let himself fall into the pool. The hot water soothing his agitated body. “Now explain yourself to this Sesshōmaru.”

Naruto hesitated just for a moment, then sighed. This boy was willing to be his family. He supposed, one of them had to take the first step to build up the necessary trust between precious people. “I used to be human.” At that the golden eyes slightly widened, but the silver haired boy stayed silent, so he could speak freely. “But on the day of my birth a powerful demon attacked and killed many people. They couldn't stop him, so the hokage, the village leader I mean, sealed him inside me.”

Sesshōmaru snarled quietly. Not knowing whether this was a good or bad sight, Naruto hurriedly pointed on his stomach and further explained: “There used to be a seal. I couldn't see it. But now that it is gone I feel that it isn't there anymore. Does that make sense?” He didn't wait for a response and rambled on: “And then the seal was weak or damaged or I don't know. But then I had the demons power and could feel it and use it and-” He faltered slightly. “Everyone hates me”, he whispered, but then picked up quickly, “but then there was this strange light. And I don't know what happened. You were there and said we were family. And now we're here and my body changed and I don't feel the demon anymore. But I still feel his power. And it is all just very confusing!”

For a moment everything was quiet. Then the Heir to the West approached him and sniffed. Afterwards he leaned back again, contemplating, and said: “This Sesshōmaru believes, you and that demon merged. While he and his power made you daiyōkai, you retained your consciousness and control over that body.”

Naruto thought hard and nodded slowly. “I think, I understand.” Suddenly he looked at the it her boy with widened, clear blue eyes. “Does that mean, you don't want me anymore? I mean, now that ya know I'm not a real demon and only became a demon, ya know.” Near the end his mumbling grew nearly incoherent.

The gaze that Sesshōmaru regarded him with was cold and he grazed himself for yet another rejection because of what he was. He simply fitted nowhere. Neither real human, nor born demon. Maybe it was better after all if he- “This Sesshōmaru has claimed you as his own. You are pack. You will honor this claim. To this Sesshōmaru you smell like kitsune daiyōkai. That means you are. You simply need to learn our customs. Now wash and sleep. This Sesshōmaru will announce you to the court tomorrow.” He paused and looked at his attendants. “And you will keep this story to yourselves.”

It was a very happy Naruto with his trademark grin that spent the rest of the bath in exhausted relief and unbelief. He still hadn't wrapped his head around the fact that he finally had someone that genuinely wanted him to be around.

 

—oOo—

 

“Lord Tōga, your son has taken in a Kitsune daiyōkai about the same age as himself.”

The Inu no Taishō twinkled lightly. “Is that so? I suppose I will have a look at the pup tomorrow.” He absentmindedly stroked his lovers still flat stomach and inhaled her unique scent.

“That is not all, Mylord.” The Lord of the West drew his brows together. The art of the elevated brow would forever be denied to him. He let that particular skill gracefully for his wife and their child. “The kit claims to have been fully human before merging with and ultimately becoming a yōkai.”

Tōga drew in a sharp breath. “How extraordinary. Keep this story out of anyone's reach. And if Sesshōmaru is willing to accept a former human, then maybe there is hope for him after all. Perhaps he will desist from following his mother's footsteps.”

Hatsuo regarded his Lord curiously. “Will you then, finally, at least speak with your son? You do realize, that this is all he ever wants.”

A long suffering sigh echoed through the chamber. “I honestly don't know. I don't want to repeat my mistakes once again. He is so much like his mother, not only in looks, but in mannerism, speech and thoughts.”

“Yet he chose to be here”, reinforced Hatsuo his position in the matter firmly.

“I suppose so.”

 

—oOo—

 

“Fate.”

She smiled sweetly as She turned around to regard Her visitor. “Hello, my dear. You have finally been selfless, I see. Just like the Sage-”

“That has nothing to do with the old man, woman”, he interrupted Her harshly, “you didn't exactly give me a choice.”

Her smile widened. “Ah, but that is not exactly true, as you very well know, my dear. You could have continued on your path. I did not move your string apart from his. I simply put his onto a new path, one of his own choosing. You on the other hand had more choices than anyone before. You could have stayed on my predestined pattern. It has already repaired itself from my ripping his string out. Or you could have easily followed your vessel in his without paying the prize. Yet you chose to create your own. I let the three of you free. While all that came before got two choices, you had three. And yet you accuse me of not giving you a choice?”

He snorted gruffly and stepped up to stand next to Her and regard Her intricate weavings. It had a multitude of colors and twists. Though a couple of times he saw strings of pure gold. Most of them dull and still in finished patterns, a few shining and moving seemingly on their own accord, their story not yet finished. “Yeah, well, who in their right mind would have wanted to continue being imprisoned or enslaved for another couple of eons. Free will is a fine thing, no matter the cost.”

She turned to him, surprised. “You have changed more than anticipated. I honestly hadn't thought you would choose this path. But then, maybe I was influenced by those that came before.” As he raised a reddish eyebrow, She explained: “I have given all of your siblings the same choice in the past.”

Taken aback his red mane flung around, as he sharply turned to face the goddess. She merely raised an elegant brow at the outburst, decidedly amused. “What, did you believe, in all that time, I hadn't at one point or another given them a way out? You were merely the last one to choose. All of them declined and chose, not to break free of my patterns. They thought the price too steep. It seems like you are the bravest of your siblings.”

She smiled freely at him and moved closer, a light hand on his bicep. Her full lips caressed his ear softly as She whispered: “Either the wisest or the most foolish of them all.” Her hot breath burned on his ear and not a pleasurable way. It was literally burning his essence away. Yet he could not move.

“I hope, you are prepared for the future, my dear Kurama. Because even I cannot anticipate your path anymore.”

Suddenly She was gone and he knew, She wouldn't let him find Her again. Fate would choose the next time they spoke once more. Kurama found, he did not like this. At all.

And he also knew, he hadn't yet paid the full prize and neither had Naruto. Not that he cared for the boy.


End file.
